Dear friends who ask me to help them go vegan every few months, please stop apologizing to me about the fact that you're eating a dead bird for Thanksgiving. Apologize to the bird instead. Maybe donate to UPC, if you're feeling generous. Or better still, go vegan already. Or make all your sides vegan and cut down on the meat that way. Or whatever.

Just please don't apologize to me. You owe me nothing. I'm not the one you're eating.

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

I had the vegan/gluten free confusion happen to me for the first time last night - twice! First my friend's friend said he was just at some restaurant that advertised that they had a new vegan menu. He couldn't remember anything like where it was, though, and then later he was like wait a minute, it wasn't vegan, it was GF. Then, I asked our server if something was vegan and she came back and said it has a little bit of egg whites in it "but it's GF!" We were at an Asian fusion restaurant and the only thing I could have was edamame or they could modify two noodle dishes by leaving out the meat - but not reducing the $25 price!!

Dear friends who ask me to help them go vegan every few months, please stop apologizing to me about the fact that you're eating a dead bird for Thanksgiving. Apologize to the bird instead. Maybe donate to UPC, if you're feeling generous. Or better still, go vegan already. Or make all your sides vegan and cut down on the meat that way. Or whatever.

Just please don't apologize to me. You owe me nothing. I'm not the one you're eating.

I had the vegan/gluten free confusion happen to me for the first time last night - twice! First my friend's friend said he was just at some restaurant that advertised that they had a new vegan menu. He couldn't remember anything like where it was, though, and then later he was like wait a minute, it wasn't vegan, it was GF. Then, I asked our server if something was vegan and she came back and said it has a little bit of egg whites in it "but it's GF!" We were at an Asian fusion restaurant and the only thing I could have was edamame or they could modify two noodle dishes by leaving out the meat - but not reducing the $25 price!!

Oooh that is a big peeve of mine, actually, when I can get some sad modified meal without the meat or without the fancy cheese, but still have to pay the meat/fancy cheese price! Mean.

I had the vegan/gluten free confusion happen to me for the first time last night - twice! First my friend's friend said he was just at some restaurant that advertised that they had a new vegan menu. He couldn't remember anything like where it was, though, and then later he was like wait a minute, it wasn't vegan, it was GF. Then, I asked our server if something was vegan and she came back and said it has a little bit of egg whites in it "but it's GF!" We were at an Asian fusion restaurant and the only thing I could have was edamame or they could modify two noodle dishes by leaving out the meat - but not reducing the $25 price!!

Oooh that is a big peeve of mine, actually, when I can get some sad modified meal without the meat or without the fancy cheese, but still have to pay the meat/fancy cheese price! Mean.

I'm only really annoyed with that if it is an item that actually is expensive (classic example: roasted beet salad with a fancy cheese), but a lot of places respond okay to just asking if you can up the veggies or add avocado or something. Restaurants don't usually have someone to be the go-between on what the kitchen and the servers are going to be charging. And even though it's dumb that I have to always apologize for stuff like naan without ghee, I'm soooo appreciative just that they get it right.

I get a massive sandwich at least once a week from a farm market and they always give me free guac since I never get cheese. That is a pet awesome though. The sandwiches are loaded with local veggies and bigger than my head. Yup, totally getting one today.

Dear friends who ask me to help them go vegan every few months, please stop apologizing to me about the fact that you're eating a dead bird for Thanksgiving. Apologize to the bird instead. Maybe donate to UPC, if you're feeling generous. Or better still, go vegan already. Or make all your sides vegan and cut down on the meat that way. Or whatever.

Just please don't apologize to me. You owe me nothing. I'm not the one you're eating.

Thanks for the Graham cracker advice everyone...but I gave up! Defeated...just making regular pumpkin pie. I think that maybe it just happens to be the stores I go to? I don't know. I will just always keep an eye out, then when I see them, I will by a ton and keep them in the freezer. Also, I think that a lot of places might be out since it is near Thanksgiving (also out of mushrooms. Every freaking store this week. I NEED MUSHROOMS.)

Another peeve: holiday specific. I listen to a lot of talk radio; in the mornings, podcasts etc. Everyone is always bisqueing about vegans and vegetarians at Thanksgiving. Why? I bet that most of you have never even met one, much less had one at your house for a holiday! Quit bisqueing about it, if it does not affect you. And if you have a guest with a dietary requirement, and don't want to even try to meet the needs of your guest, then maybe you ain't the best hostess. Just sayin.

One station I listen to, the dude is always complaining about vegatarians. Someone called and asked if he knew any. He said he HAD NEVER MET ONE. so...then what is the problem? how does it affect YOU? If anything, we drive down the market value of turkey.

I really really really wanna call up some of these stations, but I can't at work. Grr. Vegans need to represent!

(wow, that was quite a rant! but that is kind of the point of this thread right?)

Another peeve: holiday specific. I listen to a lot of talk radio; in the mornings, podcasts etc. Everyone is always bisqueing about vegans and vegetarians at Thanksgiving. Why? I bet that most of you have never even met one, much less had one at your house for a holiday! Quit bisqueing about it, if it does not affect you. And if you have a guest with a dietary requirement, and don't want to even try to meet the needs of your guest, then maybe you ain't the best hostess. Just sayin.

One station I listen to, the dude is always complaining about vegatarians. Someone called and asked if he knew any. He said he HAD NEVER MET ONE. so...then what is the problem? how does it affect YOU? If anything, we drive down the market value of turkey.

I really really really wanna call up some of these stations, but I can't at work. Grr. Vegans need to represent!

(wow, that was quite a rant! but that is kind of the point of this thread right?)

Yeah, I was just coming here to complain! Our local station had an entire hour pretty much only devoted to cooking a turkey and they talked about vegetarians for like 5 minutes and were kind of condescending.

My pet peeve today is Starbucks -- why do they only have sweet soy milk? Does everyone like sweet drinks but me? My coffee tasted like marshmallows.

On The New Normal, they did the 'omg turkeys get killed before we eat them!' thing, so they made Tofurkey, and then of course everyone spit it out and they ordered pizza. Man, I have never seen that joke done in a sitcom before!

_________________"The Tree is His Penis"

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear

Another peeve: holiday specific. I listen to a lot of talk radio; in the mornings, podcasts etc. Everyone is always bisqueing about vegans and vegetarians at Thanksgiving. Why? I bet that most of you have never even met one, much less had one at your house for a holiday! Quit bisqueing about it, if it does not affect you. And if you have a guest with a dietary requirement, and don't want to even try to meet the needs of your guest, then maybe you ain't the best hostess. Just sayin.

One station I listen to, the dude is always complaining about vegatarians. Someone called and asked if he knew any. He said he HAD NEVER MET ONE. so...then what is the problem? how does it affect YOU? If anything, we drive down the market value of turkey.

I really really really wanna call up some of these stations, but I can't at work. Grr. Vegans need to represent!

(wow, that was quite a rant! but that is kind of the point of this thread right?)

Yeah, I was just coming here to complain! Our local station had an entire hour pretty much only devoted to cooking a turkey and they talked about vegetarians for like 5 minutes and were kind of condescending.

One of the afternoon NPR stations had a segment yesterday on thanksgiving traditions and dealing with family etc and one of the callers asked how they should deal with being a vegan invited to a gathering with omnivores, particularly ones that make fun of her when she brings her own food to events so she can actually have something to eat...the response was "vegans always make sure they get what they need (plus some joke about how vegans always make their opinion heard), there's always sides and getting together is not about food" then they jumped back into the conversation about how important the food was...um, yeah...fork you "diverse" radio show panel.

HEADLEE: She says: What do you do when you're vegan and you're invited to a omnivore dinner by the same people who make snide comments if you bring your own food because you know there won't be food for you? What do you think, Steven?

(LAUGHTER)

PETROW: Well, that's a great question. And, you know, I think the headline for the this whole conversation is: Even though we associate Thanksgiving with food, it's really not about the food. It's about being together. It's about giving thanks. I love the ritual that some of my friends do, where we go around the table and we say what we're thankful for in the past year. You know, to this specific question I think, you know, we need to remember, you know, it's not about the turkey per se. And if you're having, you know, if you're having vegan guests, of course they should be comfortable at the table. They should feel free to offer to bring something. No one ever goes hungry at the holiday table either. So, you know, if you don't have a substitute for the turkey, if there are plenty of sides, you know, you'll be fine. And, you know, the vegans are very good - as I understand it, you know, speaking up for themselves - on all these issues.

_________________Technically, we're all half-centaur - Nick Offerman

Imma let you finish, but the Paranthropus Boisei were the greatest vegans ever.

Ugh I saw all these cave paintings complaining about vegan cheese options. I don't miss those days. -Isa

On The New Normal, they did the 'omg turkeys get killed before we eat them!' thing, so they made Tofurkey, and then of course everyone spit it out and they ordered pizza. Man, I have never seen that joke done in a sitcom before!

My partner and I were talking abou this last night. Tofurkey is a brand name right? On tv shows and movies, people rip on them ALL. THE. TIME.

Are they allowed to do that? I mean, if I had a product, and it constantly got ripped on TV shows and movies, I would be upset. Don't they need permission to mention a name? I notice in other instances shows will not mention brand names (i.e. on a show the other night they kept referring to Google as 'internet search engine'-very obviously meaning Google). People in bars NEVER order a brand name drink, just beer, wine, whiskey etc. Logo's are NEVER shown on TV. Brand names RARELY mentioned.

On The New Normal, they did the 'omg turkeys get killed before we eat them!' thing, so they made Tofurkey, and then of course everyone spit it out and they ordered pizza. Man, I have never seen that joke done in a sitcom before!

My partner and I were talking abou this last night. Tofurkey is a brand name right? On tv shows and movies, people rip on them ALL. THE. TIME.

Are they allowed to do that? I mean, if I had a product, and it constantly got ripped on TV shows and movies, I would be upset. Don't they need permission to mention a name? I notice in other instances shows will not mention brand names (i.e. on a show the other night they kept referring to Google as 'internet search engine'-very obviously meaning Google). People in bars NEVER order a brand name drink, just beer, wine, whiskey etc. Logo's are NEVER shown on TV. Brand names RARELY mentioned.

What's the deal? Is it ok for some but not for others?

Even though I will be having my Field Roast En Croute tomorrow, I know someone will have to say something like "Is that tofurkey?". I don't know what to answer, because usually they just laugh when I say anything. I have had the same thing for the last 3 years with exactly the same people.

On The New Normal, they did the 'omg turkeys get killed before we eat them!' thing, so they made Tofurkey, and then of course everyone spit it out and they ordered pizza. Man, I have never seen that joke done in a sitcom before!

My partner and I were talking abou this last night. Tofurkey is a brand name right? On tv shows and movies, people rip on them ALL. THE. TIME.

Are they allowed to do that? I mean, if I had a product, and it constantly got ripped on TV shows and movies, I would be upset. Don't they need permission to mention a name? I notice in other instances shows will not mention brand names (i.e. on a show the other night they kept referring to Google as 'internet search engine'-very obviously meaning Google). People in bars NEVER order a brand name drink, just beer, wine, whiskey etc. Logo's are NEVER shown on TV. Brand names RARELY mentioned.

What's the deal? Is it ok for some but not for others?

The brand is spelled Tofurky. I guess they couldn't get Tofurkey so it's fair game.

What’s with sitcoms ragging on vegans in general lately? In the past week or two there’s been annoying scenes on shows like Modern Family, The B in Apt 23 and Partners. On two shows, someone served “soy” bacon and everyone thought it was disgusting and spat it out, and on another show someone claimed they tried going vegan for a week but were just so tired and weak all the time. Way to perpetuate the unfounded stereotype crasshole tv people.

On The New Normal, they did the 'omg turkeys get killed before we eat them!' thing, so they made Tofurkey, and then of course everyone spit it out and they ordered pizza. Man, I have never seen that joke done in a sitcom before!

I was wondering if anyone else watched this/what they thought. Last Christmas my mom made me one, and I took the leftovers to another family get together, and my cousin tasted it. I wish I could describe her face. She was just like, how do they get it to taste like... meat? And looked really confused and maybe a little grossed out.

I thought the Tofurkey was OK, but it led to amazing farts and discovering that although my grandma's other senses are going, her sense of smell is just fine.

_________________I would eat Dr. Cow pocket cheese in a second. I would eat it if you hid it under your hat, or in your backpack, but not if it was in your shoe. That's where I draw the line. -allularpunk

On The New Normal, they did the 'omg turkeys get killed before we eat them!' thing, so they made Tofurkey, and then of course everyone spit it out and they ordered pizza. Man, I have never seen that joke done in a sitcom before!

My partner and I were talking abou this last night. Tofurkey is a brand name right? On tv shows and movies, people rip on them ALL. THE. TIME.

Are they allowed to do that? I mean, if I had a product, and it constantly got ripped on TV shows and movies, I would be upset. Don't they need permission to mention a name? I notice in other instances shows will not mention brand names (i.e. on a show the other night they kept referring to Google as 'internet search engine'-very obviously meaning Google). People in bars NEVER order a brand name drink, just beer, wine, whiskey etc. Logo's are NEVER shown on TV. Brand names RARELY mentioned.

What's the deal? Is it ok for some but not for others?

Even though I will be having my Field Roast En Croute tomorrow, I know someone will have to say something like "Is that tofurkey?". I don't know what to answer, because usually they just laugh when I say anything. I have had the same thing for the last 3 years with exactly the same people.

Should I point to the meat and be nasty and say "Is that a corpse?"

No, see, because when omnis are dicks it's hilarious but if we do it, it's just plain rude. Not to mention that each of us, individually, represents all of vegandom. :/

I happen to like Tofurkey a lot, and buy it at the end of the season when it goes on sale and stock up. I would not plan on serving a Tofurkey dinner to omni guests that came over, but last year (not thanksgiving) we unexpectedly had like 4 people come over, so I popped one in the oven with my own marinade, and some veggies. Dude, everyone LOVED it. Now when they come over to eat, they are dissapointed if there is no Tofurkey. My omni partner likes it a lot too. It's just not special enough for thanksgiving dinner...I usually make some kinda seitany thing instead.

But yeah back to the tofurkey/vegan bashing on TV/media. Been really bad this year. Maybe because vegetarian/vegan/plant based diet stuff is becoming more mainstream this past year?

Also, I guess 'Tofurkey' is like a generic term now? but it is a brand. I still don't understand why some brands are said on TV/Movies and others are replaced with generic terms. I am guessing it has to do with the fact that the 'big' labels (like NIKE or Google) would file a lawsuit if someone was using their brand in a negative way on a TV show or movie. I doubt that Turtle Island Foods strikes the same legal fear into people that Apple does.

I'm basing this on media law and media ethics classes from almost 10 years ago, but I can't imagine there is anything is illegal about making fun of Tofurky on a sitcom. Creative works (like fictional scripts) get a lot of leeway as far as what they can or cannot say. I think that typically when you see a brand name in a movie or tv show it's because they've paid for product placement. But obviously, I'm not super sure about this.

I noticed the spike in vegan bashing, too. And a lot of people seem to have a problem with vegans at my college. It was funny because they would start ragging on vegans and how rude they were and how they always had to tell people about their diet and blahblahblah... and I was sitting right there, listening, only to mention at the end that I wasn't rude and hardly ever talked about being vegan. The best part is watching them try to recover from that without looking like the biggest jerks in the world.

It's crazy that this happens so much. In all honesty I never talk about meat being terrible or bash anything that anyone eats in public. I don't make faces. I make polite conversation, and sometimes compliment how their food looks if I feel compelled. So it comes as a slap to the face every time I have to listen to the attacks.

What’s with sitcoms ragging on vegans in general lately? In the past week or two there’s been annoying scenes on shows like Modern Family, The B in Apt 23 and Partners. On two shows, someone served “soy” bacon and everyone thought it was disgusting and spat it out, and on another show someone claimed they tried going vegan for a week but were just so tired and weak all the time. Way to perpetuate the unfounded stereotype crasshole tv people.

I think it's because there are more vegans than ever before, so they're getting more attention. So try to look at it as a good thing? Not so long ago, most people wouldn't have even gotten a vegan joke.

I was stocking the shelves at the grocery store today and my coworker and I came to the natural section.

"This stuff is so forking gross," he said pointing toward the veganaise and almond milk. "I don't know how anyone could eat it."

I just laughed and didn't say anything. I'm trying to keep a low profile. I think some of my supervisors already think I'm a freak because I had to write on my application I was arrested at Occupy Wall Street.

"I think it's because there are more vegans than ever before, so they're getting more attention. So try to look at it as a good thing? Not so long ago, most people wouldn't have even gotten a vegan joke."

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win - Gandhi I think

I noticed the spike in vegan bashing, too. And a lot of people seem to have a problem with vegans at my college. It was funny because they would start ragging on vegans and how rude they were and how they always had to tell people about their diet and blahblahblah... and I was sitting right there, listening, only to mention at the end that I wasn't rude and hardly ever talked about being vegan. The best part is watching them try to recover from that without looking like the biggest jerks in the world.

It's crazy that this happens so much. In all honesty I never talk about meat being terrible or bash anything that anyone eats in public. I don't make faces. I make polite conversation, and sometimes compliment how their food looks if I feel compelled. So it comes as a slap to the face every time I have to listen to the attacks.

There are tons of mean jokes about vegetarians and vegans all over my facebook feed today. Since I am the only veggie that anyone knows, I feel like it is directed at me

meh. I hate thanksgiving. I passed on the half-assed invite from my sister for dinner. Nobody wants me around. I am cool to bring some food to share (I love to cook) but I have been told that my presence makes everyone uncomfortable. Just me being there. Even if I don't bring up a single word about animals/diet/etc.

What’s with sitcoms ragging on vegans in general lately? In the past week or two there’s been annoying scenes on shows like Modern Family, The B in Apt 23 and Partners. On two shows, someone served “soy” bacon and everyone thought it was disgusting and spat it out, and on another show someone claimed they tried going vegan for a week but were just so tired and weak all the time. Way to perpetuate the unfounded stereotype crasshole tv people.